Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have 2 young res`s. i am concerned because they do not seem to be shedding thier scutes. they are growing. i can tell where the shell has grown, but they are getting an accumulation of the old shed still stuck. how can i help it come off or is this normal? i`ve had them since march. also, i am noticing some shell deformation and i know that this is usually caused by too much protien. my turtles are only fed protien twice a week, otherwise, its fresh veggies and fruits daily. is this something that will progress? the scutes are getting kinda separated at the edges. are they getting overweight? i can`t imagine them getting overweight from vegetables......should i be feeding them even less protien? or is twice a week good?

meagan

Meagan,

I am having the same problem with my turtles. They have some pyramiding, don't shed, and the marginal scutes are sort of splitting apart. I wish I knew the answer and hope someone chimes in here because my guys are only getting a few pellets 3 times a week with romaine and dandelion greens in between. You are not alone!

Nancy

The only suggestion I can think of is possibly a calicum/vitamin deficiency as part of metabolizing food that is adding to the shell mis-growth. I would suppliment lots of calicum and careful amounts of a reptile vit. suppliment. For calcium you can use cuttlebone or calcium dusting powder which you coat food with before feeding....works great on crickets or moist little bits (cut up worm perhaps?). Use it like Shake 'n Bake....put a small spoon into a baggie, drop in the moist food items, and shake til coated.

You can't suppliment too much on calcium, and vit. suppliments shouldn't be used more than once per 7-10 days. It might not solve the source of the problem, but it will at least help encourage healthy bone and shell development.